With the
Thor movie doing gangbusters at the local cinemaplex, Thor action
figures are all the rage. One of the most recent comic releases is the
Walmart exclusive Gigantic Battle set of Thor and Goliath.

We've seen a Walmart exclusive Goliath before - just last year in fact.
But this version is from the Civil War comic series, and they've
included issue number 4 with the figures, which is quite appropriate.

This Goliath is Bill Foster, one of the few African American
superheroes in the Marvel universe. In the issue included with this two
pack, *SPOILER ALERT* he is killed by Thor (actually, a clone of Thor).
*END OF THE SPOILER* so you can see why the included this particular issue.

Walmart is also doing Savage Frost Giant and Loki, which are Civil War
characters as well...and Thor characters too. I doubt it's an accident
that they timed the release of these particular comic characters with
the release of the live action movie.

The Thor included is the clone version from the comic as well,
although they have a normal Thor pictured on the back of the package.
You can find these at Walmart if you're extremely lucky - I've only
seen this guy once, and I've never seen the Frost Giant/Loki set.
Expect to pay just shy of $30 if you're lucky enough to find him in the
store, and on ebay prices are in the $40 and up range right now.

Packaging - ***
The box is well designed, and quite thin - this makes it even easier to
store for the MIBers, always a plus. It's also very sturdy, and should
be able to hold up to normal shelf wear and tear.

It's not *quite* collector
friendly, but it's about as close as mass market packaging gets. The
interior tray slides out without destroying the outer box, and rather
than use twisty ties, they went with strong string ties. You can either
cut these, or simply untie them (much easier than twisties) to release
the figures. You can always put them back, but you'll probably want to
skip the frustration of retying the strings.

The comic is taped to the back
of the inside cardboard tray, but this tape can be cut or removed
carefully, and you can avoid ripping said tray.

I mentioned this earlier, but
it's worth repeating - they pictured a normal faced Thor on the back,
rather than the clone version. Not sure if there's a variant floating
around out there, but the clone is really the one you'd want anyway.

Sculpting - Goliath
***1/2; Thor **1/2
Normally, you're not going to see the sort of realism on a comic book
portrait - especially one from Hasbro or Mattel - that you'll see from
a Hot Toys or an Enterbay. That's true here as well, but this Goliath
gets about as close as I've seen.

The
hair is extremely well detailed, and the face has some texture to it,
including small wrinkles on the lips. This is one of the best head
sculpts to come out of Hasbro in this scale (remember, he's not
technically a sixth scale figure even though he comes in at 12", but
rather a 4" scale figure who happens to be giant), and is a big plus
for the figure.

The body, not so much. It's the same body we've
seen used a number of times now on this series, and in fact, I think it
might be the exact same body we saw with the previous Goliath with just
a new belt. One hand is sculpted in a fist, while the other is in a
soft gesture pose. The skinny limbs, especially the arms, look out of scale to me.

The smaller Thor is also one we've seen
before, with the addition of the 'clone' face. You can see the
Terminator-like damage to his right eye and cheek, which is well done
considering the tiny scale. He's also in that 4" scale, but stands big
at about 4 1/2" tall.

I'm not quite as enamored with his sculpt,
however. The soft wings look a bit silly, and the thick clumpy hair is
poorly done. The hands are oversized, while the noggin is a pinhead,
exacerbated by the big cloak. While he stands great on his own, and is
going to be a welcome variant on the Thor's you already have on the
shelf, his overall appearance doesn't do a whole lot for me.

Paint - ***
While the paint work is decent, there's nothing here to elevate it beyond the average.

Goliath's
costume has the usual fuzzy lines that you've come to expect from this
series, and is common with the larger figures. The smaller Thor has
some clean work considering the scale, but there's some gloppiness to
the wings and helm. I'm not thrilled with the work on the clone section
of the face either, and some of the cast color pieces - like the hair -
could use some detailing.

Articulation - ***
Like most of the Marvel Universe series, these are well articulated
figures. Not all the joints work quite as smoothly as I'd like, but
there's plenty here.

Goliath has a traditional ball
jointed neck, and it tilts and leans fairly well. It would be nice if
it could lean back just a bit more, but it's a small issue at best.

He also has post/disc ball
jointed shoulders with the usual cut joint at the bicep, single pin
elbows, double pin knees, pin ankles, a cut waist, an ab-crunch, post/disc ball hips, and cut thighs.

Thor
has similar articulation, but he has the funky try ball joint hips that
just don't work all that well. There's decent side to side movement,
but almost no forward and back.

Accessories - ***
This is a tough one to call. Is this a two pack of figures, or one big
figure with a small figure as his accessory? Which way you look at it
can effect your score here.

I'm taking it as a two pack,
which means there's three additional accessories. Thor has his hammer
and cape, both nicely done. The hammer fits in his right hand and looks
good (lots of nice sculpt detail on the surface), and the cape pops on
and off with the use of two pegs. The cape is long enough to assist in
some poses, and doesn't get in the way of others...too much. He stands great
without it as well, so you have more than one display option.

Goliath doesn't get any extras,
but there is the copy of Civil War #4, a critical issue for these two
guys. I'm not a huge fan of paper extras, but at least this
one makes complete sense and is a good read.

Fun Factor - ***
Both figures stand well, are properly articulated, and make for
excellent conflict play. They fit in with the rest of the Marvel
Universe too, so any fan (young or old) of the series will enjoy adding
them to the collection.

Value - **1/2
These are pushing $30, but that's no real surprise, is it?
Considering how expensive even the small Marvel Universe
figures have gotten, I'd say that paying retail on these is a
reasonable value.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. I'd be a tad careful with some of the joints, as they are
quite tight (at least on Goliath), but overall the build quality is
high enough that you shouldn't have any issues.

Overall - ***I have a soft spot in my heart for the large
Marvel figures, but this particular skinny body isn't their best work.
The sculpting on the Goliath portrait is great, and the articulation is
decent, but the paint work pulls both figures down a bit.

I've
been searching high and low for the Frost Giant and Loki, but no luck
in my neck of the woods. That set is likely to be the more popular, and
from what I've heard the work on the Frost Giant is excellent.